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| Full name | Laurence Rochon Owen | ||||||||||||
| Alternative names | Laurie Owen; The Winchester Pixie | ||||||||||||
| Country represented | United States | ||||||||||||
| Born | May 9, 1944 Oakland, California |
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| Died | February 15, 1961 (aged 16) Berg-Kampenhout, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium |
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| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||||||||||||
| Former coach | Maribel Vinson | ||||||||||||
| Skating club | SC of Boston | ||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Laurence Rochon "Laurie" Owen ( /lɔrˈɔːns/; May 9, 1944 – February 15, 1961) was a Hall of Fame American figure skater. She was the 1961 U.S. National Champion and represented the United States at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where she placed 6th. She was the daughter of Maribel Vinson and Guy Owen and the sister of Maribel Owen. Laurence Owen died in the crash of Sabena Flight 548 en route to the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships.
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Laurence Owen was born in Oakland and for the first eight years grew up in Berkeley, California. She was the second child of Guy Owen and Maribel Vinson and the younger sister of Maribel Owen. In 1952, shortly after the death of her father, her mother moved back to her girlhood home at 195 High Street in Winchester, Massachusetts with Laurie and her sister Maribel. Laurie went to Winchester Junior High School and then attended Winchester High School where she was an honor student and participated in several sports.[1]
In 1956, Laurie won the Eastern Junior Ladies title and was unable to participate in the United States Championships that year because of a broken wrist. In 1958, she placed 3rd in the United States Figure Skating Championship Junior Ladies Division. In 1959, Laurie won the United States Figure Skating Championship Junior Ladies Division.[2]
In January 1960, Laurie placed 3rd in the 1960 United States Figure Skating Championships and qualified for the 1960 Winter Olympics where she placed 6th. Her mother, the 1932 Winter Olympics Bronze Medalist and nine times US Singles Champion Maribel Vinson-Owen was her coach.
On January 29, 1961, Laurie won the 1961 United States Figure Skating Championships in Colorado Springs and won the 1961 North American Figure Skating Championships on February 12, 1961 in Philadelphia.[3] After her victory at the US Nationals, she became a media sensation and was nicknamed "The Winchester Pixie".[4] On February 13, 1961 she appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine with a feature story that called her "America's most exciting girl skater."[5]
On January 28, 2011 Laurence Owen was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame along with the entire 1961 World Team. Her sister Maribel Owen also was inducted and her mother Maribel Vinson Owen was inducted for a third time in 2011; in her capacity as a 1961 World Team Coach. Previously, her mother had been inducted in the inaugural Class of 1976 as a singles skater and for a second time in 1994 as a pairs skater.[6]
On February 17, 2011 the U.S. Figure Skating Association released the documentary film entitled "Rise 1961". The movie chronicled the relationship between Laurence and her mother, the airliner crash in Belgium and the rebirth of the United States Figure Skating Team after the crash.[7]
As national champion, Laurence Owen was selected as a member of the U.S. team for the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships, to be held in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The championships were scheduled to begin on February 22, 1961.[3] Laurence, her mother Maribel Vinson-Owen, her sister Maribel, and the other members of the 1961 United States Figure Skating Team and their coaches boarded Sabena Flight 548 just before 7:30 pm EST on Valentine's Day 1961 at Idlewild Airport in New York.[3] On February 15, 1961, about 10:00 am Brussels Time, the Boeing 707 approached Zaventem Airport. The airplane attempted to land, as it was about to touch down on the runway; engine power increased, it performed a go-around and climbed to 1,500 feet.[8] The airplane attempted to circle and land on another runway, but never made it back to the airport. It crashed in a marshy area adjacent to a farm field less than two miles from the airport (50° 56′ 1.22″ N, 4° 32′ 9.68″ E) at 10:04 a.m. Brussels Time. All 72 people on board, as well as a farmer on the ground, were killed.[9] Laurence Owen was just 16 years old.
The World Championships that year were canceled out of respect for the United States team.
A memorial service was held on February 25, and Laurence was interred beside her mother and sister in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts that day.
In her book on figure skating, Debbi Wilkes, a Canadian Hall of Fame skater and coach who watched Laurence Owen win her title, wrote:
Laurence Owen had planned to attend her mother's alma mater, Radcliffe College, with a view to eventually becoming a writer. Following her death, at her high school in Winchester, Massachusetts, Laurie Owen's English teacher read a poem to her classmates that Laurie had recently written. The poem ended with these words:
| Event | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympics | 6th | ||
| World Championships | 9th | ||
| North American Championships | 1st | ||
| U.S. Championships | 1st J. | 3rd | 1st |
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